Carton-filling machine



G. P. RASCK AND L. WEEKS. CARTON FILLING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED0011a, 1920.

1,4 1 1 ,5 1 4 atented Apr- 4, 1922.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- l W/////////////////z,

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G. P. RASCK AND L. WEEKS.

CARTON FILLING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED 0e18, 1920.

1,41 1,5 1 4. Patellted Apr- 4, 1922.

2- SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES fATENT OFFICE.

CARTON-FILLING- MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

Application filed October 8, 1920. Serial No. 415,668.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Gnoncn P. RASOK and Leo l Vnnns, citizens of theUnited States, and residents of Des Moines, in the county of Polk andState of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Carton- FillingMachine, of which the following is a specification.

Theobjects of our invention are to provide a machine of simple, durableand inexpensive construction, especially designed for automaticallyplacing tablets, pills, capsules and the like into paper cartons.

More particularly it is our object to provide a machine of this classwhich may be run at high speed and without danger of breaking ormutilating the stock being worked on, or the cartons being filled.

Our invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects con templatedare attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in ourclaims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawin 's, in which Jigure 1shows an end elevation of a carton filling machine embodying ourinvention.

Figure 2 shows an enlarged, detail sectional View, illustrating a partof the tablet container, inclined carton supporting table, and the meansfor forcibly removing tablets from the container and dischargingtheminto the cartons.

F igure 3 shows an end elevation of the upper portion of our improvedmachine, with a part of the tablet container broken away to show theinterior construction.

Figured shows a top or plan view of the complete machine; and

Figure 5 shows a detail sectional View il lustrating the weight actuatedmechanism for advancing the cartons. 1

Referring to the accompanying drawings, we have used the referencenumeral 10 to indicate 'the main frame of the machine. Mounted on top ofthe main frame is the tablet container, which comprises a lower smallcompartment 11 and an upper large compartment 12. The upper compartment12 has inclined bottom members 13, extending downwardly and inwardlytoward the center of the container, the ends thereof being spaced aparta comparatively slight d-is-' tance from the longitudinal center, asilluspitman 24.

trated in Figure 3 and for purposes hereinof the tablets, pills orcapsules to be worked on. This slide 15 is mounted in suitable guides 17for longitudinal reciprocating motion; The number of openings 16provided in the slide corresponds to the number of tablets that it isdesired to place in one carton.

For automatically operating the slide 15 and other parts of the machine,we have provided a motor 18 connected with a drive shaft 19. This driveshaft has a Worm 20 thereon, in mesh with a Worm gear 21 on the shaft22. This worm gear is provided with a crank pin 23 to which is connecteda A lever 25 is fulcrumed t0 the machine and extended upwardly, and hasthe pitman 2 L pivoted to it, whereby the upper end of the lever may bereciprocated. The upper end of said lever is connected by a link 26 tothe slide 15, so that during the ously reciprocated.

Adjacent to the lower end of, the tablet container 11 is a cartonplatform 27, inclined downwardly and toward the front of the -maohine atan angle of approximately forty-five degrees. This carton platform has ashoulder at 28, extending upwardly and substantially at right angles tothe platform 27, and against which the closed ends of the cartons rest.

The cartons with which this device is intended to be used are of theordinary folded paper carton type commonly used in the sale of tablets,pills, capsules, etc., and are indicated in the drawings by the numeral29.

The cartons are fed to the machine as follows: On the carton platform27, at

one side of the tablet container, is a carton feeding chute indicatedgenerally by the refoperation of the motor the slide iscontinuthiscarton container tapered'as shown and described,'isas follows: Whenthese paper cartons are placed in the container, one end is open and theflaps forming the end unfolded, while the other end is closed and theflaps forming it lie in overlapping positions, thus reinforcing theclosed end and tending to cause it to maintain its normal outline. Theopen end, however, being in its unfolded position, is easily crushed andsomewhat flattened out. Therefore, when the cartons are piled one abovethe other in this manner, with one end open and the other closed, theclosed ends will stand higher than the open ends. Hence if the lowercarton was in position lying fiat against the inclined carton table 27,the upper cartons in the container would be more nearly in a horizontalposition and hence they would tend to bind in the container unless theupper end of the container was larger than the lower. However, by theconstruction shown this tendency to bind has been avoided.

The means for progressively feeding the cartons from the cartoncontainer to the point where they are'to be filled is as follows:

Mounted on the inclined carton table 27 is a sliding block 31, having apin 32 ex tending downwardly therefrom through a slot33. This pin isattached to a rope 34 passing'overpulleys35 and 36 to direct itsmovement in the direction parallel with the under surface 'of theinclined table top 27. On one end of this rope is a weight 37, and theother end is attached to the lever 25 at the point marked 38. By thisarrangement it is obvious that during each movement of the lever25 therope will be pulled in one direction, and during the opposite movementof the lever25 the rope will be pulled by the weight in the oppositedirection, so'that for each reciprocation of the lever 25 the block 31is moved to engage the undermost carton in the carton container, andpush it one carton space in a direction toward the point where thecartons are filled. The length of movement of the block 31 may beregulated by adjusting the position of attachment of the rope 34 withthe lever 25.

We preferably provide above the cartons on. the table, a guide plate 39under which the cartons may slide and which prevents them from bucklingup. 7

The means for removing the tablets 15 in the slot 16 and for placingthem in the cartons, is as follows: 1

Fixed tothe exterior of the tablet container 11, on the side adjacent tothe carton table, is a brush 40 having yielding, resilient bristles, andthis brush is so positioned that as soon as the slide 15 projects beyondthe tablet container 11 these bristles will partly enter the openings 16and thus forcibly engage the tablets therein and push the tabletsdownwardly through the openings 16. Immediately beneath the brush 40 isa funnel-shaped .tablet receiving and guide device 41, tapered from amaximum at its upper end to a minimum at itslower end, the latter endbeing placed adjacent to the open cartons to direct the tablets into thecartons. The upper end is placed directly beneath the brush 40, and isarranged close to the bottom of the slide 15. On the interior of thetablet container 11 is a second brush 43, for the purpose of causing thetablets to lie flat within the o enings 16.

In ractical operation the tablet container 11 an 12 may be filledwith'the tablets to be put in the cartons. On account of the high speedat which this device is run, it is desirable to have a comparativelylarge number of tablets to save the trouble of continually refilling thetablet container. It is, however, objectionable to have an unduepressure upon the tablets resting on the slide 15.

We have overcome this difficulty by providing the upper tablet container12 with a slotted inclined bottom which supports a great deal of theweight of the tablets contained in the upper compartment, and etmaintains the bottom compartment 11 enough at all times to rovide'suflicient pressure to insure the filling of all of the openings 16during each reciprocation of the slide 15. The brush 43 on the interiorof the tablet compartment brushes oil the surplus tablets from the topof the slide 15, and presses all ofthe tablets that are within the holes16 fiat within the holes, so that during each'reciprocation there is onetablet in each hole. In this way the number of tablets is accuratelymeasured for each carton.

Inorder to operate this machine at the desirable high rate of speed, wehave found it very advantageous to have the carton table top inclined atsubstantially the angle illustrated and described, for the reason thatwhen in this position the cartons can easily be held and supported withone end open, and the funnel-shaped receiving and guide device 41 willaccurately direct the tablets into the cartons. It is, of course, truethat without the brush 40 the tablets would fall by gravity from theopenings 16 as soon as the slide 15 passed be ond the exterior ofthetablet container. owever, this movement by gravity would be entirelytoo slow for our purposes, and furthermore tablets might stick in saidopening. For this reason we have provided the brush 40 to cooperate withthe open upper end of the funnel-shaped device 41, and by thisarrangement the bristles instantly force the tablets out of the openinand lnto the device 41 as soon as the sli c has passed beyond the tabletcontainer, and by this arrangement of the brush 40 the funnel-shapeddevice 41 and the inclined table top for the cartons, we are enabled tooperate the slide 15 at high speed and accurately fill each carton withthe desired number of tablets without injury to the tablets or thecartons.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a carton filling machine, the combination of a receptacle forstock, means for supporting cartons to receive the stock, a slide in thestock receptacle having openings therein to receive the stock and project it beyond the stock receptacle, resilient means arranged to engagethe stock in the openings when the same is projected beyond the stockreceptacle, and forcibly and rapidly eject same from the openings, andmeans for directing the forcibly ejected stock into the cartons.

2. In a carton filling machine, the combination of a stock receptacle,means for supporting cartons adjacent thereto, a slide having openingstherein in the stock receptacle, a brush so arranged that its bristleswill engage and forcibly eject stock from the openings in the slide assoon as it has been projected beyond the container, and means fordirecting the stock into the carton.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a stockreceptacle, a slide havin openings therein mounted in the receptacle toreceive the stock and to conduct it to a point exterior of thereceptacle, resilient means exterior to the receptacle for engaging thestock and forcing it out of said openings, a carton table inclinedclownwardly and forwardly from the stock receptacle, and designed toreceive cartons with their open ends extending upwardly toward the stockreceptacle, a funnel-shaped device between the stock receptacle and thecartons, for receiving the stock and conducting it into the cartons, andmeans operated in unison for reciprocating the slide and advancing thecartons one carton space upon the return movement of the slide.

4:. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a stock receptacle, a slide having openings thereinmounted in the receptacle to receive the stock and to conduct it to apoint exterior of the receptacle, resilient means exterior tothereceptacle for engaging the stock and forcing it out of saidopenings, a carton table inclined downwardly and forwardly from thestock receptacle, and designed to receive cartons with their open endsextending upwardly toward the stock receptacle, a funnel-shaped devicebetween the stock receptacle and the cartons, for receiving the stock,and conducting it into the cartons, and means operated in unison forreciprocating the slide and advancing the cartons one carton space uponthe return movement of the slide, said means comprising a motor, a leverreciprocated by the motor and connected with the slide, a rope connectedto the lever, pulleys over which the rope passes, a weight connected tothe pulley, and a carton advancing reciprocating block connected to saidrope.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a carton tableinclined at an angle of approximately forty-five degrees, a cartonreceptacle open at its upper and lower ends on said table, and means atthe bottom of said carton receptacle for successively pressing the lowercarton in the receptaclelaterally across the inclined table.

, 6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a cartontable inclined at an angle of approximately forty-five degrees, a cartonreceptacle open at its upper and lower ends on said table, and means atthe bottom of said carton receptacle for successively pressing the lowercarton in the receptacle laterally across the inclined table, saidreceptacle being tapered from a maximum at its upper end to a minimum atits lower end, to prevent the cartons from binding therein.

Des Moines, Iowa, September 25, 1920.

GEORGE P. RASCK. LEO WEEKS.

